Joe Biden again committed the United States to war with China if they invade Taiwan saying US troops would fight. CNBC. Biden was asked in an interview with 60 minutes if he would do so and said “Yes, if in fact, there was an unprecedented attack.” The move directly contradicts US policy to keep things vague when it comes to the issue of defending Taiwan. Biden has said similar comments before but this time it was much clearer in tone. Biden's team claimed that US policy when it comes to Taiwan has not changed despite the comments, which were made last week and aired tonight. Biden did say during the interview that the "one China" policy remains in effect.
My Comment:
I didn't watch the interview but this was not the only flub that Biden made in it. He also claimed that the Coronavirus pandemic is over. This is probably true, the disease is endemic now and isn't going anywhere, plus is nowhere near as severe as it once was. But that is the opposite message of what the Biden administration is still making. Given the fact Biden had put his foot in his mouth twice in a highly edited and scripted interview, I wonder how the uncut version looks?
Regardless, the Coronavirus flub is not a serious issue. Openly committing us to going to war with China is extremely serious. China will be furious with us, again. Just last week the Senate angered China over a major defense bill that would give billions of dollars to Taiwan. At some point they might consider doing something.
China, of course, considers Taiwan to be a integral part of China. They would consider this to almost be an act of war. They shrugged off Biden's previous comments but there is no guarantee that they will do so this time. What they would do in response is mystery but I don't think anything good will come from this.
It's also a terrible look for the US government. It's literally double speak when Biden says something while his government says the opposite. Does it matter if we are going to defend Taiwan or not? Sure, but what is more concerning is the mixed messaging. How can we deal honestly with China when Biden can't keep his facts straight?
And, to be clear, I don't support China's claim on Taiwan. As I have said before, I don't consider China's government to be legitimate. There is an argument that we should indeed defend Taiwan due to their strategic importance. It's a discussion that we should have.
But Biden is not the one that should be making the argument. Largely because he can't be made to make it coherently. Either we should support Taiwan or not, but what we shouldn't do is have Biden be the one making the decision. He has proven that he will screw it up.
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